Just wanted to thank everyone who's been reading. Thanks for your continued support. Enjoy.
John listened in wide-eyed horror as Dr. Lumic related what had happened to him. Lumic told the story as though it had happened in a far off place, instead of to the man who was right in front of him. Even so, John listened silently, any feeling of wanting to speak was evaporating by the minute. If he didn't speak, he didn't have to become a part of all of this. He didn't have to entertain the thought that he hadn't been in control of himself before and had hurt someone. His worst nightmare, what he had feared all along, did not have to be true, so long as he didn't speak and he ignored it.
But Dr. Lumic wouldn't let this happen. He was now sitting on the edge of John's bed, uncomfortably close. He even rested his old wrinkled hand on John's leg. When he spoke to John he commanded his attention; his dark brown eyes held John's gaze as he spoke. John wanted to look away, to close his eyes, to retreat into his own head, but found that Lumic, or what he was saying, had a power over him and he could not turn away.
Finally, Dr. Lumic finished his narrative. "Can you speak again, Mr. Smith?"
John said nothing. What he had been told was still sinking in. Had he really attacked someone? Especially Martha? It was a lie, he told himself. A clever lie, that was all. But then he felt a pain in his hand and knew that what Dr. Lumic had said was true. He gulped, his mouth suddenly dry.
"Mr. Smith?" Lumic prodded.
"Give me a minute!" John snapped angrily and immediately recoiled at his own fury. He held his head in his hands. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He kept repeating those two words. Salty, clear tears began streaming down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
Dr. Lumic placed his hand on John's shoulder in what was supposed to be a comforting manner, but instead felt like a metal emotionless robot was trying to comfort him. "Relax, Mr. Smith. I understand that you are upset, but I must talk to you."
John shook his head and fell back onto his too soft pillow, the energy to even hold himself up was gone. "I can't." His hands were laid out in front of him tremors running through them intermittently.
Dr. Lumic took John by the shoulders and held him up. As he had done before, he commanded John's tear filled gaze as he spoke. "But you must!"
"What's happening to me?" John sobbed. "What is going on in my head?"
"I don't know, Mr. Smith." Lumic shook his head, but then he faced John again, his eyes filled with determination. "But if you talk to me, if you tell me everything you can, then I can figure it out."
Lumic brought his mouth just a few inches from John's ear and whispered. "And that incident never has to happen again."
